An army field hospital has been set up outside the 424 Military Hospital in Thessaloniki in order to tend to COVID-19 patients as the city’s hospitals reach capacity.

Works are expected to be completed on the field hospital by Monday, according to an Open TV report.

Health authorities say the current situation in Thessaloniki hospitals are dire as intensive care units are almost full.

This comes as Greece also announced a record 108 deaths from the coronavirus on Saturday, followed up by 103 deaths on Sunday and 1,498 new cases.

There is also a record number of 540 patients in intubation in Greece.

Out of the 1,498 new coronavirus cases announced on Sunday, Thessaloniki once more had the most with 305, followed by the Attica region with 218, and Larissa, Trikala and Volos, all three in central Greece, with 84, 80 and 79 cases respectively.

Greece marked Armed Forces Day on Saturday with a video projected onto the Hellenic Parliament facade showcasing the history and struggles of the Greek army for the protection of the homeland since ancient times.

Among the projected historical battles was the Battle of Marathon, the Greek Revolution of 1821 and frigates of the Greek Navy apparently ready to meet the Turkish challenge.

One of the projections also had a religious theme featuring the Virgin Mary, who is the patron of the Greek Armed Forces.

The video triggered reactions and controversy online, with Greek people in lockdown taking to social media to voice their objections.

“This is projected on Parliament the day the Turkish NAVTEX is 6 nautical miles off the island of Kastellorizo,” writes Twitter user, Andreas Kallioras.

Older generations described the video as “creepy,” saying it reminded them of the military dictatorship and its main slogan “Homeland – Religion – Family.”

“The symbol of my teenage nightmare in parliament. The symbol of intolerance and fundamentalism. The symbol of SKASE, DO NOT SPEAK, the symbol of mafia and masculinity, the symbol of FEAR, the symbol of the deniers,” wrote Τριριτζάντζουλα.

Others found “inappropriate” the projection of “warmongering, national-christian kitsch” the day COVID-19 killed 108 people.

“The names of the dead should be projected,” wrote Maria Louka on Twitter.

Greek President marks Armed Forces Day:

President Katerina Sakellaropoulou joined in on the commemorations on Saturday, marking Greek Armed Forces Day by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of Parliament at downtown Athens’ Syntagma Square.

“At this time when Turkish aggression has intensified, my thoughts go out to the men and women in the armed forces who, with self-denial and exemplary patriotic ethos, have been on alert for months, without the opportunity for rest, to be with their families,” she said, thanking them “on behalf of all Greeks.”

The armed forces were also hailed by Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who thanked the men and women serving in the country’s defense forces for their “self-denial and sense of duty,” in a post on Twitter.

Turkey has issued another navigational telex, or NAVTEX, for the continuation of survey activities of the Oruc Reis vessel in the Eastern Mediterranean through to November 29.

The NAVTEX, which was released on Saturday by the Antalya station, reserves an area extending just beyond six nautical miles south of the island of Kastellorizo. 

The Oruc Reis will continue its activity along with two other ships, the Ataman and Cengiz Han, the NAVTEX said.

The Oruc Reis had been expected to finish its work by November 23.

Greece issues counter-Navtex:

In response, Greece has issued a counter-NAVTEX to the advisory published by Turkey.

The NAVTEX, issued by the Iraklio station in Crete, said that an “unauthorised station” had broadcast a NAVTEX message in the Greek NAVTEX service area, referring to “illegal activity in an area including Greek territorial sea.”

It added that the area designated by the Turkish advisory overlaps Greece’s continental shelf.

READ MORE: Pompeo condemns Turkey’s unilateral actions in East Med in letter to Greek counterpart.

Greece’s Foreign Ministry also responsed on Saturday, saying in a statement that the Turkish NAVTEX had reserved an area overlapping Greece’s continental shelf in violation of the international law of the sea.

Turkey’s moves, the Ministry said, undermine peace, security and stability in the region.

The Ministry warned that Turkey was once again disregarding calls by the international community and the European Council to refrain from illegal actions that fuel tensions in the region.

Erdogan calls on EU for dialogue:

Hours before Turkey issued their illegal NAVTEX, the country’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called on the European Union for dialogue, warning the bloc not to become a “tool for enmities” during escalating tensions over the Eastern Mediterranean.

“We expect the EU to keep its promises, not to discriminate against us or at least not to become a tool to open enmities targeting our country,” Erdogan said in a video address to his ruling party congress on Saturday.

READ MORE: Turkey-Greece feud escalates as Turkey plays military games in East Med.

“We don’t see ourselves elsewhere but in Europe,” he added. “We envisage building our future together with Europe.”

These comments came in the face of statements by Turkey’s Defense Minister, Hulusi Akara, who again raised the issue of “gray zones” in the Aegean, claiming that there are islands the sovereignty of which was never given to Greece.

“We are researching openly, it is obvious. We are not hiding anything. We do scientific and technical work. Our ships continue their work. It is immoral to present these tasks as provocation or as raising tension,” the Turkish Defense Minister said, according to Ekathimerini.

“This is not about ethics. They ignore moves and actions which they carry out around islands, which are by no means under Greek sovereignty.”

EU leaders are to decide in a December summit whether to impose further sanctions over Turkey’s recent activity.